REPORT: IRON 0-1 LINCOLN

The Iron went down 1-0 at home to Lincoln City in the semi-final of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup.

A Sean Newton free-kick mid-way through the first half was the difference in an what was a fairly even contest at Glanford Park.

United started the game fairly well, passing the ball around tidily but not creating anything of substance.

The first real action of the game came in the 5th minute when a cheeky backheel from Hakeeb Adelakun put Madden through but Farman managed to get to the ball and smother it before the United striker could pounce.

In the seventh minute, some more good trickery from Adelakun saw the ball deflect and find its way to Taylor on the right hand side of the box but his shot found the side netting.

After that, the game was very much played in the middle of field, with neither side managing to to cause the other too many problems in the final third.

That was until the Imps took the lead in the 20th minute. Kabba was fouled and Newton stepped up to whip the free-kick into the bottom corner and past Slocombe to put the Conference side ahead.

United needed an equaliser and perhaps the best chance to get that came five minutes later, when the ball found its way through to Lyle Taylor who took the ball into the box but put the ball wide of the far post with only Farman to beat.

The Iron had another great chance only two minutes later when Myrie-Williams was brought down for a free-kick heading towards the corner flag.

The ball was was floated in and found Luke Waterfall, whose looping header beat Farman but was headed off the line and over the bar by Diagne to stop the Iron levelling the match.

The only real shot of note before the break came in the 41st minute when Adelakun tried his luck from twenty five yards out but the ball was never troubling Farman in the Lincoln goal.

The second half began with the Iron in control and looking for an equaliser, with Eddie Nolan and Jefferson Myrie-Williams on the right hand side starting to cause problems for the Imps’ defence in particular.

He went on a great run early in the second half to win a corner, taking the ball in his own half and using his pace to leave two players for dead but the resulting corner came to nothing.

The next player to was Paddy Madden, who found himself with the ball on the edge of the box in the 48th minute but dragged his shot wide of the post.

Madden had another chance a minute later, when a great run from Eddie Nolan resulted in him laying the ball back to Madden but his shot was straight at Farman.

Nolan went on another run minutes later, coming inside and beating two players before smashing the shot well wide.

From the way the second half started, it seemed like an equaliser was on its way but it didn’t come and Lincoln started to take control from around the hour mark.

First, Ben Tomlinson smashed and the Imps then forced Slocombe into action big time with three saves in the space of a few minutes.

The first of those came on 74 minutes, when a terrific cross found the head of Burrow at the far post. The ball seemed destined to find the back of the net but Slocombe managed to tip it onto the post before the ball was cleared.

The second of those came three minutes later in the 78th minute, when a Newton corner found Burrow, who forced Slocombe to tip the ball over the bar.

The next Lincoln chance came only a minute later, when a shot from Todd Jordan found Hamza Bencherif, whose powerful drive forced another smart save from the Iron number one.

The Iron huffed and puffed for an equaliser in the last few minutes but weren’t able to fashion another good opportunity, meaning that Lincoln came away with the victory and a place in the Lincolnshire Senior Cup Final.